Monthly Archives: October 2019

Doting dad Stephen Armstrong knows all too well what its like to be waiting for a transplant donor.

His son Jacob was diagnosed at two years old with a rare blood disorder and called on the public to donate stem cells to find him a match.

He then set out to raise as much money as he could for the blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan in a bid to save lives.

And now, after raising over 20,000, his efforts have been recognised by the charity as they honour him at an awards ceremony held at the Tower of London in November.

Stephen, 33, of Wallsend, North Tyneside, has been shortlisted for the Individual Fundraiser of the Year Award at the Anthony Nolan Supporter Awards 2019.

The prestigious awards are back for their seventh year and will recognise the outstanding achievements of the volunteers, fundraisers and campaigners who help the pioneering blood cancer charity save lives.

Stephens nomination is in recognition of his incredible fundraising efforts, leading a group of 19 friends and family in a series of physical challenges, all while his son was undergoing treatment.

After Jacob was diagnosed in 2017, Stephen set out to find a matching stem cell donor, as well as raise awareness of the need for more people on the register.

From here Jacobs Journey was born, and through a series of challenges including the Great North Run, the Great North Bike Ride and climbing Ben Nevis, Stephen has helped raise over 20,000 for the charity.

Jacob, who turns four in November, and his family have been told he does not need a transplant, but Stephen and his family want to continue raising awareness for others who arent so lucky.

When Jacob was diagnosed, we were stunned by how few people were on the stem cell donor register. I couldnt believe how a stranger in the street could potentially save our little boys life, said Stephen, an assistant manager for Dixons Carphone.

Anthony Nolan helped us massively while Jacob was ill and provided a great support network. I feel very proud to be nominated for an award, and I hope it can help build even more awareness for the cause.

Stephen and mum Kirsty, 28, received the news in December 2017 that Jacob was suffering from bone marrow failure, which affects between 30 and 40 children each year.

They first became concerned about his health when they went abroad to get married and noticed he was getting bruised easily. The marks would take weeks to disappear, so when the couple returned to the UK they decided to take Jacob to the doctor for a check up.

After tests he was then diagnosed and was treated at the Great North Childrens Hospital in Newcastle, where he received two blood transfusions.

Stephen added: When we were told Jacob did not need the transplant it was the best news in the world, a total relief. He still needs check ups every three months and his consultants is keeping an eye on him. There are so few people on the stem cell donor register so I just wanted to create a ripple effect with awareness and get more people on it.

Stephen, who has raised a further 8,000 for other smaller charities, has also been nominated for our Chronicle Champions Award in the Champion Fundraiser category.

Henny Braund, Chief Executive of Anthony Nolan, said: It is remarkable to see how many people support our work to find a match for those in need of a stem cell transplant. Without them, none of our lifesaving work would be possible.

Stephen has shown tremendous commitment to Anthony Nolan by continually going above and beyond in his fundraising efforts.

Henny added: We want to extend a huge congratulations to Stephen and look forward to celebrating with him at the awards.

The awards take place on Thursday 28 November at the Tower of London, and all winners will be revealed on the night.

Anthony Nolan is the charity that finds matching stem cell donors for people with blood cancer and blood disorders and gives them a second chance at life. It also carries out ground-breaking research to save more lives and provide information and support to patients after a stem cell transplant, through its clinical nurse specialists and psychologists, who help guide patients through their recovery.

To see the full shortlist, and find out more about the charity visit http://www.anthonynolan.org/awards

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Dad who called on the public for stem cells for his son is up for an award - Chronicle Live

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In addition, the paper presents a previously unpublished in vivo observation on allogeneic human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) modified with AgeXs proprietary immunotolerance technology, UniverCyteTM. In humanized mice (those with a functional human immune system), UniverCyte-positive hPSCs formed larger and heavier tissue compared to controls. This observation provides support for the premise that UniverCyte-expressing tissue was potentially hypoimmunogenic and might have escaped recognition by a functional human immune system and continued to grow. Further work is required to substantiate this preliminary in vivo finding.

Hypoimmunogenic allogeneic cells are the Holy Grail in regenerative medicine, and a number of accomplished researchers have made great strides toward engineering them over the last few years, commented Dr. Nafees Malik, Chief Operating Officer at AgeX, Head of Cell & Gene Therapy at Juvenescence (a major investor in AgeX), and lead author on the paper. This is a huge area of focus for us at AgeX, via our UniverCyte technology platform. In support of our own research and as a service to the overall field, we decided to put together this paper, analyzing all the leading strategies to engineer universal cells and encapsulating them in one paper.

Dr. Maliks co-authors on the paper are Gregory Bailey, MD, Chairman of the Board of Directors of AgeX and CEO of Juvenescence; Annalisa Jenkins, MBBS, FRCP, who serves on the Board of Directors of AgeX; and Jim Mellon, Chairman of Juvenescence.

Mr. Mellon added, AgeXs UniverCyte technology platform will not only be important to the company in developing in-house therapies, it may also be transformative for the wider cell therapy industry via collaborations and licensing deals. It is quite conceivable that in the near future, allogeneic cell therapies may potentially need to be universal to be clinically and commercially competitive.

AgeX is developing its UniverCyte technology platform at its new 15,700-square-feet R&D facility, in the San Francisco Bay Area, which has current good manufacturing practices (cGMP)-capable manufacturing capacity.

Universal cells would help us and others to fulfill the original vision of cell therapy, said Dr. Bailey. Thus, I am pleased that my colleagues at AgeX and Juvenescence have put together this paper, as it should be of considerable benefit to researchers, possibly enabling them to accelerate their progress. He added, AgeXs UniverCyte technology uses a novel, modified form of the tolerogenic molecule HLA-G, which in nature plays a key role in preventing a mother from rejecting her semi-allogeneic baby.

The paper is being published online ahead of print on Wednesday, October 30, 2019. It may be found here.

About AgeX Therapeutics

AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. (NYSE American: AGE) is focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapeutics for human aging. Its PureStem and UniverCyte manufacturing and immunotolerance technologies are designed to work together to generate highly-defined, universal, allogeneic, off-the-shelf pluripotent stem cell-derived young cells of any type for application in a whole host of diseases with a high unmet medical need. AgeX has two preclinical cell therapy programs: AGEX-VASC1 (vascular progenitor cells) for tissue ischemia and AGEX-BAT1 (brown fat cells) for Type II diabetes. AgeXs revolutionary longevity platform named induced Tissue Regeneration (iTR) aims to unlock cellular immortality and regenerative capacity to reverse age-related changes within tissues. AGEX-iTR1547 is an iTR-based formulation in preclinical development. HyStem is AgeXs delivery technology to stably engraft PureStem cell therapies and slowly release iTR molecules in the body. AgeX is developing its core product pipeline for use in the clinic to extend human healthspan and is seeking opportunities to form licensing and partnership agreements around its broad IP estate and proprietary technology platforms for non-core clinical applications.

For more information, please visit http://www.agexinc.com or connect with the company on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.

About Juvenescence

Juvenescence is a life sciences company developing therapies to increase healthy human longevity. It was founded by Jim Mellon, Dr. Greg Bailey and Dr. Declan Doogan. The Juvenescence team are highly experienced drug developers, entrepreneurs and investors with a significant history of success in the life sciences sector. Juvenescence will create, partner with or invest in new companies with longevity-related therapeutics, by in-licensing compounds from academia and industry, or forming joint ventures to develop therapeutics for longevity. Juvenescence believes that recent advances in science have greatly improved our understanding of the biology of aging and seeks to develop therapeutics with the possibility of slowing, halting or potentially reversing elements of aging.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements that are not historical fact including, but not limited to statements that contain words such as will, believes, plans, anticipates, expects, estimates should also be considered forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements and as such should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect the business of AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. and its subsidiaries, particularly those mentioned in the cautionary statements found in more detail in AgeXs reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commissions (copies of which may be obtained at http://www.sec.gov). Subsequent events and developments may cause these forward-looking statements to change. AgeX specifically disclaims any obligation or intention to update or revise these forward-looking statements as a result of changed events or circumstances that occur after the date of this release, except as required by applicable law.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191030005329/en/

Excerpt from:
AgeX Therapeutics and Juvenescence Publish Paper on Engineering Strategies for Universal Cells and Provide in Vivo Observation on Immunotolerance...

Emmerdales Charley Webb has revealed that she and her co-star husband Matthew Wolfenden stored the stem cells of their youngest son, Ace.

The Debbie Dingle actress and Matthew, who plays David Metcalfe on Emmerdale, opened up on their decision in case they need the stem cells in future for a treatment.

In an emotional post, Charley, 31, said that she hopes they never need to use the stem cells, but are glad they are stored if they need the.

The mum-of-three shared a gorgeous picture of Ace in his cot as she wrote: We decided to store Aces stem cells. As parents every single one of us wants to do whats best for our children.

When I was pregnant, I heard about the possibility of collecting and storing my baby's umbilical cord stem cells, which could then be used in the future should they be needed for treatment (I hope with every part of me we never need it).

After researching, we learned that the baby's umbilical cord is a valuable source of stem cells, and these cells can be collected at birth and stored. These could then be used as a crucial part of treating or curing an illness.

Currently, there are over 80 diseases cord blood stem cells can treat.

I decided to use Smart Cells to store the stem cells: the process was easy (genuinely) and they organised everything.

Like I said, we hope we never need to use them, but it's comforting to know that we have them stored if we ever do. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and Im so grateful we were able to do this. Xx.

Many of Charleys fans told her that they too have made the decision to store their babies stem cells, while others thanked her for sharing the knowledge.

One person said: Wow Ive never heard of this thanks for sharing.

Another said: Amazing. Such an important thing and I think every parent should consider doing this it may save a life, so much respect for you. And ace is so cute.

And a third commented: Wow! Never knew you could do this! Great idea!

Along with baby Ace Gene, Charley who has hit out at parenting trolls is also mum to sons Buster, nine, and Bowie, three.

Bowie recently had his sweet long hair cut shorter, which resulted in Charley having to address the reasons for his hair cut on her Instagram account.

Taking to her Instagram stories, Charley denied that Bowies hair cut was a result of negative comments from trolls about the length of his hair.

Speaking to the camera, she said: "I can't believe how many messages I've had asking if I've cut Bowie's hair because of negative comments on Instagram or online.

"No! The answer to that is no. If I was cutting my child's hair because people were being negative that would be very worrying."

Revealing the real reason behind Bowies new look, Charley said: "He had it cut because he saw a picture of short hair that was all different colours like red, yellow, blue, and he wanted it to look like that and he thought it would change colour.

Obviously it didn't but he still has the hair, so it's fine."

Charley had shared a cute snap of Bowie pulling on tassels on his knitted hat which is slightly tilted to show part of his new, shorter do before she defended the chop.

She said in the caption of the snap: Hair cut=cute face visible. Bowie 3 years and 10 months. [sic]

Read more:
Charley Webb reveals emotional reason she stored son Aces stem cells as fans thank her for educating them - OK! magazine

Putting your pregnancy on pause until the time is right to give birth sounds like something out of a sci-fi novel, but for many mammals whats known as embryonic diapause is an essential part of raising their young.

Although scientists have known since the 1850s that some animals have this ability, it is only now becoming clear how it could teach us valuable lessons about human pregnancy, stem cells, and cancer.

More than 130 species of mammal can pause their pregnancies. The pause can last anywhere between a couple of days and 11 months. In most species (except some bats, who do it a little later) this happens when the embryo is a tiny ball of about 80 cells, before it attaches to the uterus.

Its not just a single group of mammals, either. Various species seem to have developed the ability as needed to reproduce more successfully. Most carnivores can pause their pregnancies, including all bears and most seals, but so can many rodents, deer, armadillos, and anteaters.

Read more: What marsupials taught us about embryo implantation could help women using IVF

More than a third of the species that take a breather during gestation are from Australia, including some possums and all but three species of kangaroo and wallaby.

The record-holder for pregnancy pause time is the tammar wallaby, which has been studied extensively for its ability to put embryos on hold for up to 11 months.

The main advantage to pausing pregnancy is that it separates mating and birth. There are two main ways in which animals do this.

The first way is to mate soon after giving birth, to have a backup pregnancy in case something happens to the newborn young. The stress of lactating triggers a pause that lasts during suckling, and the pregnancy restarts once the young leave.

The second way is to pause every pregnancy until the time is right (usually depending on the season). For example, minks mate around the start of March but put the embryos on pause until after the spring equinox (March 21), when the days are growing longer in their northern hemisphere homes. This ensures that the young are born in spring when conditions improve, and not in winter.

The tammar wallaby combines these two methods (suckling in the first half of the year, short days in the second) to pause for almost a year and give birth in January. This ensures the young leave the pouch the following spring instead of in the middle of a hot Australian summer.

Diapause was first identified in 1854 after hunters in Europe noticed that pregnancy in roe deer seemed to last a lot longer than normal. Since then scientists have been fascinated by this process and it has helped us understand more about basic reproductive processes in all mammals.

But it took until 1950 before our knowledge of pregnancy had increased enough so that we could confirm what the hunters had observed 100 years earlier.

But how the process worked at the molecular level is still a mystery. Until recently, there seemed to be no connection between which species used it and which didnt and there didnt seem to be a unifying mechanism for how pregnancy was paused. Even the hormones controlling diapause are different between mammal groups.

However, research now suggests that regardless of what hormones affect the uterus, the molecular signalling between the uterus and the embryo is conserved, at least between the mouse, mink and tammar wallaby.

Furthermore, researchers in Poland paused embryos from sheep (a non-diapause species) by transferring them into a mouse uterus and then back into the sheep with no ill effects.

This indicates the potential for diapause could lie in all mammals, including humans.

Its unlikely that pausing pregnancy will become the norm in humans. For starters, youd have to know you were pregnant within five days of conceiving to match the time when most species start diapause.

Understanding how mammals pause their pregnancies does have significant implications for our understanding of how to make healthy embryos. The time when the embryo enters into diapause is the same time in IVF when an embryo is transferred into the uterus. Diapause could help us improve how we grow embryos in culture or how to recognise which is the best embryo to transfer.

Read more: Explainer: what are stem cells?

Diapause could also help create better stem cells and find new cancer treatments. The first stem cells ever isolated by scientists came from a mouse embryo in diapause, when the cell cycle of the embryo is arrested. Stem cells are also remarkably similar to a diapaused embryo.

So understanding how diapause works at the molecular level could lead to new therapies to halt cell division or to identify markers for tumour stem cells, which are thought to be responsible for metastasis in cancer.

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Some animals pause their own pregnancies, but how they do it is still a mystery - The Conversation AU

Hair care is being taken to the next level, by utilising recombinant DNA technology to restore one's confidence and crowning glory.

Such hair restoration products or treatments are made using recombinant DNA - or DNA cloning - where selected pieces of DNA from different organisms are combined to construct artificial DNA.

At Ageless Medi-Aesthetics, its latest AnteAge MD Hair Treatment is a non-invasive procedure that involves applying the AnteAge MD Hair Growth Factor solution or serum - made from potent recombinant growth factors and cytokines - onto skin prepared with microneedling.

Dr Lam Bee Lan, director of Ageless Medi-Aesthetics, told The New Paper: "Recombinant DNA technology is more efficient in producing large amounts of artificial messenger proteins effective for skin and hair renewal compared with stem cells derived from plants."

Methods of hair restoration are often divided into two broad categories - invasive techniques and topical and/or oral solutions. They can either be expensive or linked to side effects such as erectile dysfunction, ejaculatory dysfunction and loss of libido.

But Dr Lam cautioned that before treatments are prescribed, patients must consult with a physician to ascertain if they are suitable for them.

"Treatments based on recombinant DNA technology should be worked in as a first-line treatment when you start to experience more hair loss than usual, or as part of a regular routine in maintaining a full head of hair.

"For more severe hair loss, patients should consider a hair transplant," she said.

While there are minimal side effects such as occasional soreness and redness that will resolve within one to two hours, Dr Lam noted that most patients will experience slowing down of hair loss after the first session, while new hair will grow after the second session.

Home-grown scalp specialist PHS Hairscience has also explored stem cell technology and cell signalling technology since 2014 to treat hair loss or greying hair on the cellular level.

Ms Anita Wong, its chief executive and founder, told TNP: "As the body ages or changes due to reasons such as stress or lifestyle choices, cell functions can deteriorate, and cell activity that directly impacts new hair growth or melanin (hair pigment) production becomes less than optimal."

PHS Hairscience's marquee treatment, Miracle Stem Cell Solution, leverages on stem cell science and cell signalling to reactivate dormant follicle cells to promote hair growth. At $297 a session, it can be complemented with the FEM/HOM Thickening range of products.

She said: "These active botanical stem cells also work to increase the life span of hair follicles so your hair can remain in the anagen (growth) phase of the hair growth cycle for a longer period of time.

"Keeping the hair in this growth phase will maximise the length and thickness of new hair, as well as stop the existing strands from shedding."

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Restore your crowning glory with recombinant DNA tech - The New Paper